Kmart to launch Jaclyn Smith furniture line

Collection also will include decorative accessories

Carole Sloan -- Furniture Today, October 31, 2008

NEW YORK - Kmart will launch an exclusive furniture collection by Jaclyn Smith in the spring, following up on last month's launch of the celebrity designer's bed and bath collection in its stores and on online.

Doug Wurl and Theresa Strickland, both of Sears Holdings, join Jaclyn Smith at a New York event announcing her furniture collection at Kmart, which is owned by Sears.

The collection also will include decorative accessories, said Doug Wurl, vice president and general merchandise manager for home fashions at Sears Holdings, the parent of Kmart and Sears.

The Jaclyn Smith collection represents the "better" segment of Kmart's good/better/best lineup, with Martha Stewart Everyday holding the top slot, at least through 2009.

The new furniture collection will include bedroom, living room, dining room and occasional, Wurl said. Products will be mostly ready-to-assemble imports, but some goods also will be sourced in the United States.

The assortment will be divided into two lifestyles: Jaclyn Smith Traditions and Jaclyn Smith Today. Traditions leans more towards the traditional or classic customer "with a twist - products of the past with a sense of today's style," Wurl said.

"Today represents a more transitional lifestyle," he said, incorporating modern, global and contemporary influences.

Smith has long experience with Kmart, having launched her apparel collection with the retailer more than 20 years ago.

She said in a press conference here, "Home is my passion and my favorite place in the whole world."